• Ethiopia and two UN agencies launched two national programs valued at $419.34 million for the 2025-2030 period.
• The programs focus on human capital development, gender equality, resilience, governance, and inclusive growth.
• The initiatives align with Ethiopia's ten-year development plan and economic reform 2.0.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), partnering with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance, jointly launched two national programs on Monday, October 27, 2025. These initiatives span the 2025-2030 period. Valued at $419.34 million, these programs aim to accelerate the country’s progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The national programs will focus on several key areas. Specifically, they will reinforce human capital development, advance gender equality, address geographic disparities, and promote resilience.

The UNFPA program, budgeted at $140.04 million, aims to improve sexual and reproductive health, combat gender-based violence (GBV), and promote the rights of women and youth. This particular program will target over 21 million women and youth across ten regions of the country.

Conversely, the UNDP program, estimated at $279.3 million, emphasizes governance, inclusive growth, climate resilience, and innovation. Significantly, it will pay particular attention to artificial intelligence (AI) and youth employment.

Ethiopia's development plan guides the new programs. Semereta Sewasew, Minister of State for Finance, affirmed: “The new national programs are designed in line with Ethiopia's ten-year development plan and the local economic reform 2.0, which demonstrates our close collaboration with the UN system to contribute to national and international development commitments.”

Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation with an estimated 132 million inhabitants in 2024 (World Bank data), faces significant socio-economic hurdles. Despite sustained economic growth of 8.1% in 2023/2024, the nation grapples with substantial economic and social challenges, notably unemployment. The economy must create approximately 1.8 million jobs annually to absorb new labor market entrants. Furthermore, the Human Development Index (HDI) remains low at an estimated 0.38, and per capita income stands at $1,020.

Moreover, a succession of shocks since 2018, including drought, locust invasions, COVID-19, and the Tigray war, has impacted nearly 91% of households.

The UNDP-Ethiopia previously developed a national gender equality strategy covering the 2022–2025 period in 2022.

This article was initially published in French by Ingrid Haffiny (intern)

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum